fan testing questions

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rfadream

Limp Gawd
Joined
Feb 26, 2006
Messages
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if i bought a yate loon low speed and a scythe s flex low speed and wanted to compare them side by side with my system turned off would that be possible?

like is there some way to hook it up to power supply and run the fans without turning on the rest of the system?

also is it safe to pull out a fans power connector either 4pin or 3pin mobo, while the computer and fan is running?
is it safe to do the reverse, plug in fans to either 4 pin or 3pin while running?
 
Short green to black on the PSU motherboard connector to power the PSU up.
 
no clue what that means. can anyone answer the question of whether its safe to pull a fan off while pc is powered up? thats the one i'm most interested in.
 
Safe is relative.

IF you don't touch anything else and cause a short (e.g. with a ring on your finger), you don't plug the fan into a connector that is not for fans, the fan connector is connected properly (you don't end up powering the fan speed detector line) etc, then it is relatively safe. The fans don't draw a lot of power (most - if you've got a particularly high-powered fan, be cautious). Plugging or unplugging won't have much of an effect on anything.

no clue what that means
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If you want to test the fan(s) with a naked PSU, then shorting the PSU's green wire to the black wire (on the 20/24 connector) will cause the PSU to send power to the other power lines. The green line is the PSU's "should I power up now?" signal.
 
Michael Daly said:
then shorting the PSU's green wire to the black wire (on the 20/24 connector) will cause the PSU to send power to the other power lines.
Click to expand...

can anyone provide a detailed explanation of how to do this? i'm pretty clueless when it comes to electrical stuff.

pulling a fan directly off a 4 pin power supply while pc is running would be no biggy at all right? cant think of anything i could screw up while doing that.
 
I have caused my PC to shutdown by connecting a fan while the system was live.
Do it at your own risk.

To short 2 wires together, you get a piece of wire and connect the 2 wires with it.
 
rfadream said:
can anyone provide a detailed explanation of how to do this? i'm pretty clueless when it comes to electrical stuff.
Click to expand...

Maybe you shouldn't be doing this at all. Do you know someone who is comfortable with electronics?

pulling a fan directly off a 4 pin power supply while pc is running would be no biggy at all right?
Click to expand...

Are you talking about the big, Molex connector with two black, a red and a yellow wire attached and not the small connector on the motherboard? If so, that's pretty much the safest thing to disconnect - but is there any other device on the same wire on a second connector?
 
Michael Daly said:
Are you talking about the big, Molex connector with two black, a red and a yellow wire attached and not the small connector on the motherboard? If so, that's pretty much the safest thing to disconnect - but is there any other device on the same wire on a second connector?
Click to expand...

yes thats what i'm talking about. and no there are no other devices on the connector.

and would using a metal paperclip work for shorting the power supply's mobo connector?
and please don't laugh at me but do i have to worry about being shocked when holding the paper clip with my bare hands? do i need to use gloves or something?
 
As you are not that familiar with the electronics side of things, I would recommend not playing with paper clips around power plugs or trying to short pins out etc. Are you just trying to compare airflow and noise levels of the 2 fans? Why don't you just play it safe and turn your PC off, plug the fan in, turn on your PC, test and then do the same again for the other fan.
 
Technophobe said:
Why don't you just play it safe and turn your PC off, plug the fan in, turn on your PC, test and then do the same again for the other fan.
Click to expand...


I totally agree. OP, you wouldn't even have to boot up completely into Windows. You could just go right into the BIOS and let the computer sit idle while you check out the fan. Once you're done just get out of the BIOS, hit the power switch to turn off then try the other fan. Leave the side panel off and snake out a molex connector so you have easy access without having to dig through your case each time. You could just test each fan on your desk or on top of your case. Seems like a much simpler method to me instead of monkeying with a PSU, especially if you're not comfortable with it.
 
evilcartman said:
I totally agree. OP, you wouldn't even have to boot up completely into Windows. You could just go right into the BIOS and let the computer sit idle while you check out the fan. Once you're done just get out of the BIOS, hit the power switch to turn off then try the other fan. Leave the side panel off and snake out a molex connector so you have easy access without having to dig through your case each time. You could just test each fan on your desk or on top of your case. Seems like a much simpler method to me instead of monkeying with a PSU, especially if you're not comfortable with it.
Click to expand...

lol that sounds perfect thank you. i just didn't want to connect a fan, boot to window, test, shutdown, take off fan, attach new fan, and repeat

cant believe i forgot i can just boot into bios.
 
just so that i know for future reference, can someone answer my questions from above

and would using a metal paperclip work for shorting the power supply's mobo connector?

do i have to worry about being shocked when holding the paper clip with my bare hands? do i need to use gloves or something?
 
You can use a paper clip or a bit of copper wire. If you put it in place when the power is off and hold it in place with a bit of tape, you won't have to worry about a shock. Even if you did get a shock, it would be only 12V, so it might tickle a little but isn't likely to kill you unless you have a pacemaker or some other electronic device that keeps you alive.

Unplugging the PSU from the MB is way more complicated than just testing by booting to BIOS. However, if you have a spare PSU, this is a convenient way to test things.
 
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